Durban - Steve Komphela swaggered out of Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday night after Kaizer Chiefs’ 2-0 win over Golden Arrows that ended what has been a stressful year on a positive note. But the Chiefs coach isn’t getting carried away by the club’s good finish, winning their last two matches before the Christmas and Africa Cup of Nations break, even though they are a point behind the leading pack.
Komphela endured being told that he isn’t Chiefs material when the club was struggling to find consistency, easily losing their grip on the league last season before they went eight matches without a win in this campaign. Chants that he must go intensified while missiles were thrown at him in Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg. The coach opened up about how he kept his sanity amidst all of that chaos that surrounded him.
“I needed to stay focused,” Komphela said. “The lesson and inspiration to people going through hell is that it doesn’t last forever. But as soon as you hit a (good) patch like this, you must know that it’s not over. There is always pressure by virtue of being here at Kaizer Chiefs.
“What’s needed is mental strength. The essence of mental strength is to keep laser focus. The minute you focus on the mission, and there will be distractions, but knowing what you want will keep you going.But also you must take it. When people say things about you, you have to take it. It’s part of life. It’s how you deal with them that’s important.
“You shouldn’t collapse. It happens to everybody. Even those who are going through the same hell are drawing inspiration from your strength and then you become stronger.”
Komphela has to fine-tune his attack. Their poor display is what put the club in a difficult position.
The defence has improved. The understanding between Lorenzo Gordinho and Mulomowandau Mathoho has been better, forming the backbone of the defence that kept seven successive clean sheets. The problem during that period was that three of those matches ended goalless.
“There is a still a lot of work to be done,” Komphela said.“Because of the tightness of the league, two matches immediately take you to the top but we still have to keep our feet grounded. Maybe one could only make a remark with regards to the inconsistency of us in terms of performance in the PSL. “This season a team that can hold a little level of consistency will win the championship’
It’s because of that inconsistency that Komphela believes that the team that wins the league could do so with less than 60 points, a huge drop from the 71 that Sundowns amassed last season.
“If you work on ratios with reference to the past you would know that 60 points and above will help you win the league,” Komphela said. “That means after 15 matches you should be on 30 points. Then you say, ‘wait a minute. Is it because things are too tight that no club is on 30 points after 15 matches.
“At the rate we are going, we are likely to see a season that isn’t won by 60 points - unless a team hits form and is more consistent in the second half.”